The present invention is related generally to cargo handling equipment and, more particularly, to cargo loaders for transport airplanes.
Large transport airplanes require special cargo handling equipment for loading and unloading of cargo. Such equipment is ordinarily ground based. That is, it is ordinarily permanently stationed at an airport and used to service airplanes passing through the airport. Such equipment is typically in the form of a vehicle supporting a conveyor belt, ramp, elevator, or other cargo handling device.
In military airlift applications and similar uses of large cargo aircraft, where little or no ground-based cargo loading equipment is available, there has been a need for an air transportable cargo loader adapted to load and unload a variety of large and small cargo items of various types ranging from wheeled and tracked motor vehicles to boxes and barrels of goods. In order to avoid need for space-consuming assist gear aboard the aircraft, and to function effectively without ground support equipment, the loader should provide its own means suiting the varying situational requirements, including adaptability to be conveniently loaded and stowed aboard the aircraft and conveniently deployed therefrom. To conserve cargo space, the stowed loader should serve to support cargo. When deployed, it should be conveniently convertible to serve as a loading ramp for wheeled vehicles or as an elevator. Wheeled, if necessary, the loader can also be used as a mobile ground vehicle to move the cargo to and from a truck or dock.
Previous air transportable loaders are mechanically complex and relatively time-consuming to deploy. For example, one previously known air transportable loader for a large commercial airplane, such as a Boeing 747 airplane, typically takes up to several hours to deploy. Other previously known air transportable loaders require support from ground-based equipment.
Another problem with previously known air transportable loaders is that they are typically capable of handling cargo in only one mode. For example, some cargo loaders are deployable to form a ramp. Other cargo loaders are deployable to operate as a crane or as an elevator. Such cargo loaders are of limited usefulness in the handling of mixed cargo, for example, cargo including motor vehicles as well as pallets and bulk containers such as barrels.
Accordingly, it is the primary object and purpose of the present invention to provide an improved air transportable cargo handling vehicle for a commercial transport airplane.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a versatile air transportable cargo loading, unloading and ground transport vehicle that itself can be deployed from the airplane and loaded into the airplane in a matter of a few minutes and which does not for these purposes require any support from ground-based equipment or hoist equipment in the airplane.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an air transportable cargo handling vehicle also having a leg and platform settings enabling it to serve also as a loading and unloading ramp for wheeled and tracked vehicles, and the like. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multiuse air transportable cargo vehicle that is selectively operable either as an elevator-type loader and unloader or as a loading ramp acting separately or in tandem cooperably with one or more similar vehicles.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an air transportable cargo loader, unloader and transport vehicle steerable and self-propelled on the ground and which is capable of serving at any of differently located cargo entrances of an airplane.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an air transportable cargo loader that is compactly foldable so as to occupy a minimum of aircraft cabin space. More specifically, it is an object to provide such a loader vehicle that may be folded into a flat platform configuration in which it will lie stably on an airplane cargo deck to function as a slightly raised part of that deck in supporting flight cargo.
It is a further object to provide a loader that may be stacked on top of another loader inside the airplane fuselage such that several loaders can be loaded in sequence, shipped together and deployed in sequence, each serving the role of a support deck in taking on board the one succeeding it, or in discharging the one preceding it during their removal from the airplane, all without support of ground equipment or special equipment aboard the airplane.